Search Listings:

Best Poker Weekend

You’ve been watching Ben Affleck play Texas
hold-’em on TV, and now you’re hooked on
poker. Yet when the time comes to try your hand
against real-life sharks . . . well, you’re on
the wrong coast, as the vast majority of the action is
out west. Not all is lost, however. Poker pros say the
best getaway, especially if you’re going to make
a weekend of it, is once again Atlantic City. The
Borgata is the closest thing in the A.C. casino world
to tasteful, and unlike most hotels here—which
don’t even have poker rooms—it takes the
game seriously. The large poker space (soon to double
in size) hosts tournaments every day; if you must take
a break, there’s a food court attached, as well
as a lounge full of plasma TVs. Hold-’em,
seven-card stud, and Omaha are well represented;
stakes range from $2–$4 to truly terrifying.
Phil Hellmuth, a World Series of Poker champ and the
all-time top money winner ($3.5 million!) is a fan:
“It really is nicer—I go for the main
tournaments,” he says. “And I like
Atlantic City. You’re by the ocean, the
boardwalk’s a different place from what it was
twenty years ago, there’s a great shopping mall
. . . ” Maybe, maybe not. Just hope you
don’t end up at his table.

Advertising

Advertising

So what exactly does “best” mean in a city with thousands of pizza joints, hundreds of celebrity masseuses, and museum-worthy concept shops on every corner? Well, in the case of this, our annual “Best of New York” roundup, there’s a heavy emphasis on what’s new or what has somehow remained virtually unheard of (until now, of course).